Lineage overwhelms environmental conditions in determining rhizosphere bacterial community structure in a cosmopolitan invasive plant

Jennifer L. Bowen (), Patrick J. Kearns, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Sara Wigginton, Warwick J. Allen, Michael Greenwood, Khang Tran, Jennifer Yu, James T. Cronin and Laura A. Meyerson
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Jennifer L. Bowen: Northeastern University
Patrick J. Kearns: Northeastern University
Jarrett E. K. Byrnes: University of Massachusetts Boston
Sara Wigginton: University of Rhode Island, Woodward Hall
Warwick J. Allen: Louisiana State University
Michael Greenwood: University of Massachusetts Boston
Khang Tran: University of Massachusetts Boston
Jennifer Yu: University of Massachusetts Boston
James T. Cronin: Louisiana State University
Laura A. Meyerson: University of Rhode Island, Woodward Hall

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Plant–microbe interactions play crucial roles in species invasions but are rarely investigated at the intraspecific level. Here, we study these interactions in three lineages of a globally distributed plant, Phragmites australis. We use field surveys and a common garden experiment to analyze bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of P. australis stands from native, introduced, and Gulf lineages to determine lineage-specific controls on rhizosphere bacteria. We show that within-lineage bacterial communities are similar, but are distinct among lineages, which is consistent with our results in a complementary common garden experiment. Introduced P. australis rhizosphere bacterial communities have lower abundances of pathways involved in antimicrobial biosynthesis and degradation, suggesting a lower exposure to enemy attack than native and Gulf lineages. However, lineage and not rhizosphere bacterial communities dictate individual plant growth in the common garden experiment. We conclude that lineage is crucial for determination of both rhizosphere bacterial communities and plant fitness.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00626-0

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